Animal Bonds
by Michigangster
Summary: Each freelancer was given an animal partner to work and fight along side them. As the bonds between animal and agent become stronger, the team begins to fall apart. Soon, Washington is alone with his partner and he must try to do what he has to in order to keep both of them safe. This is an alternate universe and definitely has spoilers. A bit more info inside.
1. Chapter 1

A dark haired man walked down in front of a line of others. He wore glasses, and looked older. It was impossible to tell his actual age. He was relatively tall, and had an interesting southern drawl, going by the title of the Director. However, the aspects of this man were nothing compared to those he stood before. The men and women lined up each wore different colored armor. They ranged from light blue to white to grey with yellow highlights. These were the freelancers: an elite team of soldiers trained to fight the impending alien army and protect humanity. There were nine of them, and nine boxes behind the Director.

"It was decided that to further aid your fighting skills, each of you will be paired with an animal companion." He addressed the group.

Another man spoke up, this one dark skinned with a smooth, slow voice. "They are all young and will need caring. However, all of them have the best breeding and will surely be excellent fighters. Trainers will be here shortly. The animals are all equipped with a chip that allows them to communicate with you, as well as other abilities. Those that might naturally be nocturnal are no longer so."

The Director turned to the soldier with the light blue armor and gestured to the dark skinned man. "Councilor, if you please. Agent Carolina, you are matched with a grizzly bear cub." The Councilor reached into one of the larger boxes and pulled out a small, brown, fuzzy bear cub and set it on the ground in front of Carolina. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the bear stood on his hind legs and made a groaning sound. He walked around Carolina then, and sat down behind her.

Next, the Director turned his gaze on the tan soldier with silver trimmings. "Agent York, you and a wolf pup shall work together." The Councilor then proceeded to pull out the wolf pup from another large box and set the pup down in front of the agent.

"Sweet." York said and reached down to pet the wolf as it excitedly sniffed him.

The Councilor grabbed a long, thinner box. "Agent Wyoming," The Director began, stopping in front of the all-white soldier. "You have a Komodo Dragon." The Councilor opened the box and a small lizard scrambled out and waited, poised in front of Wyoming.

"Very good." Wyoming said, his British accent startling the lizard.

The Councilor and Director walked on, to the soldier in dark purple with green accents. "Agent North Dakota. We have selected a dog for you." The Councilor let free a Husky puppy. The small, rambunctious pup jumped up on to North.

"Why hello there." North said, petting the dog, the affection clear in his voice.

Yet another large box was dragged out and put in front of a soldier wearing grey armor with yellow highlighting. "Agent Washington. Your companion shall be a jaguar." The Director said as the Councilor put the jaguar cub down on the ground.

Attempting to hide, the cub moved back behind the box and let out a small, nervous cough.

"It's so…little." Washington said.

"Come on now, Wash." North spoke up. "It's just scared. Show it a little affection."

Washington shrugged and knelt down. "Come on out. No one here will hurt you."

The small cub crept forward until it was close enough to touch.

"There you go." Wash straightened up and the cub moved to hide behind his leg, feeling very small.

"She will grow in time." The Councilor said, before he and the Director moved on. "Agent Maine, you have a hyena." The odd looking cub was placed before the imposing soldier. He was also in all white armor, but had a different armor style than the rest of the soldiers. The two stared and each other, much like Carolina and her bear cub. The hyena made an odd, almost squeaking noise and turned around to sit almost on the agent's foot.

"Agent Connecticut." The Director's voice caught the attention of all once again. The Councilor reached into another box and after a moment, his hand came out again with a small hawk on it. He brought his hand to Connecticut's shoulder, and the bird moved off his hand to perch there.

"Agent South Dakota, for you we have an orangutan." The athletic animal pulled itself out of the box and was directed to South. It promptly climbed up her armor to cling to her arm.

"A monkey? How is that going to help me?" She scoffed. The orangutan quickly made loud, indignant cries in response to her words.

"That is for you to find out." The Councilor said after it became clear that the Director was not going to reply. She grumbled something, but no response was given to her.

"And last, Agent Florida." The Director said. A long box was opened, and out came a young crocodile. It was guided to Florida, where it wrapped itself around his body and let out the odd hiss that crocodiles tend to make.

"Thank you, sirs." Florida replied. His words were followed by a quick chorus of thank you's from the other soldiers.

The Director nodded. "I expect you to begin bonding with your partners now. Their relationship with you can prove very important."

The Councilor took over. "These animals do not know how to communicate with you yet, so you will just have to do your best to understand their needs." He explained. "However, they do understand us. Thank you."

"Dismissed." The Director nodded and walked away, followed by the Councilor and a few other soldiers. The team of freelancers looked at each other before parting to begin getting to know their new partners.

Hey all! So this story follows Wash and his partner. I have already posted this on Archive of our Own, so quite a bit of it is already written. I have finished the freelancer saga and will start Recovery One soon. The Reds and Blues will get animals, just not right away. If you guys have any ideas for me, let me know, whether it's something to make the story better, better title, an idea for what should happen, or what animals the Reds and Blues should be paired with. Thanks guys!


	2. Chapter 2

The afternoon of the next day found Agent North walking into the mess hall, to see Washington at the freelancer's regular table. The jaguar cub was with him, sitting on the bench next to him, closely watching him eat. North's husky trotted alongside him, tail waving.

"Hey Wash." North said, sitting down across from him. The husky went over to the jaguar, and attempted to sniff the shy cub.

"It's okay, Noca." Wash pushed the cub slightly toward the pup. Noca stretched her head out and sniffed the pup's nose, beginning to relax.

"Noca, huh?" North asked. "I call him Chukcha."

"Chukcha? Interesting name. Phyllis showed me some information about jaguars and I learned that part of their scientific name is onca. So, I call her Noca."

North nodded. "Chukcha is another name for a Siberian Husky." He explained.

There was a soft thud as Noca fell off the bench in her eagerness to meet the other animal. She quickly scrambled to her feet as Chukcha playfully nipped at her. The two began to play, making odd groans and whines.

"They get along well." North chuckled softly. "How is everyone else doing?"

"I passed York early. He and - Timber, I think? – are getting along fine, though he said that Wyoming is having issues with his lizard." Wash replied, thinking of the tan soldier and his serious seeming wolf pup.

"South is having some issues too. Apparently her orangutan didn't appreciate being called a monkey, or her attitude. It's refusing to listen to her, doing whatever it wants. She wouldn't listen to me though, so I think they go together fine." North laughed again.

"What about you and..Chuk…what was his name again?" Wash asked.

"Chukcha. And we're doing well, I think. He's really playful. How about you two?"

"Noca and I are cool. She's pretty shy at first, but she's all right. Oh, she does this. Hey, Noca." Washington pulled out a small laser pointer as the cub turned from where she was biting Chukcha's leg to look at Wash, ears perked curiously. He pushed the button and a red dot appeared on the wall behind North.

"Look, at the wall." Wash pointed with his other hand, and the small cub looked over, before darting beneath the table and jumping up on the wall, trying to reach the pinprick of light. Washington laughed and moved the light around, causing Noca to chase after it. Eventually it fell on North's armor. Noca ran forward and was about to jump on it when she realized where it was. She backed away uncertainly, ears against her head.  
"Hey, it's okay." North said softly, holding still. Noca crept forward and sniffed him, before pouncing on the light that was still on his armor. North laughed again and reached out to pet her. She flinched, then relaxed as she realized that he meant no harm.

Chukcha, who had been watching the scene, took his chance and darted forward, grabbing one of Noca's legs and pulling on it. Noca whirled around and nipped at his ear. The quiet moment was over and the two began to wrestle again.

The four of them stayed there for a while, the animals playing, Wash eating, and North content to sit and relax. After a while though, he stood up.

"Well, we should be getting to the classroom. We have a lecture on these guys there in ten minutes." He said. "Let's go, Chuk. Coming, Wash, Noca?"

The two playing animals stopped at their names, and Wash rose to his feet, finishing off his banana. "Yup." He replied around a mouthful of food. "Come on, Noca."

All four left the mess room and turned down the hall, the soldiers ahead, Chukcha and Noca only a pace behind. The two continued to make occasional grabs and nips for each other as they walked to the classroom, enjoying their antics and sometimes bumping into other people or objects.

Just outside the classroom, North turned to look at them. "All right, that's enough you two. Time to focus."

The two stared back at him, and Chukcha waved his tail. North smiled beneath his helmet and turned to walk in, Washington behind him, then Noca, with Chukcha right on her heels. He nipped at her tail as they walked into the room, causing her to jump away from him. As the agents settled down in their seats to await the arrival of the Councilor and the Director, both jaguar and husky settled down near their feet, finding themselves quite tired now that they had lain down. Just as agents York and Carolina walked in, Noca found her eyes closing and was soon fast asleep, twitching occasionally as she chased after dream dragonflies.

She was roused by Wash's nudge. "Come on, Noca. Time to go, class is over."

Noca rose to her feet and stretched luxuriously. She trotted ahead of Agent Washington over to Chukcha. The two sniffed each other before he playful grabbed at her ear. She pawed at his face immediately after and just like that the two were playing. North, Washington, and York stood over them. York's wolf pup sat at his side, watching the two play.

York looked down at him. "Go on, Timber." He encouraged. "You can play." The wolf looked at him again before walking up to the rolling animals. They stopped and stared at each other for a moment before Chukcha whined and let his forelegs drop, butt wiggling in the air. Timber, tail wagging, pounced on Chukcha. Noca, not to be left out, leapt on top of Timber and was soon entangled in their game.

The agents laughed and turned, calling them to follow. The animals did so, still trying to snap and bite each other. Eventually, though, they were stopped after repeatedly bumping into the calves of those they were following. Noca, being the smallest, was picked up and held awkwardly in Wash's arms. It was then that she noticed York. Beginning to realize that these people meant her no harm, she nervously stuck out her nose in an attempt to sniff him. York laughed, startling her. Wash dumped the young cub unceremoniously on their table in the mess hall.

"Stay here," he told her. "I'm going to get something to eat." The other eight animals got similar words as the agents left to get their dinner. Noca looked around at them. Chukcha was scratching himself, groaning softly in content. The Komodo Dragon and the crocodile rested where they had been left; their thoughts were difficult for Noca to figure out. Connecticut's hawk was perched on the edge of the table, preening her feathers. Timber and the bear cub were both sitting alertly on the ground, staring intently after the agents. The orangutan was swinging itself around the legs of the table, making a game out of it. The young hyena was simply crouched underneath the table, her eyes reflecting light in an eerie way. Noca shook herself, settled down on the table and began to wash herself. The calm monotony of her tongue strokes made her feel sleepy, and by the time the agents got back, her eye lids were dropping tiredly. She was startled awake by being picked up and dropped to the floor as Wash returned to the table and set his tray down. She sighed and resumed her washing, only to be surprised once again by a dangling piece of meat. Tentatively, she reached forward and grabbed it. Her amber eyes lit up at the taste and she butted the hand that had given it to her. Noca's ears picked up Wash's soft chuckling, and the hand soon returned with more meat. She purred after eating it, the sound oddly high-pitched and coming in short bursts when she exhaled. Wash rubbed her head before resuming his own eating.

Above the table, the agents were talking about their new partners.

"How are you all getting along with the new ones?" North asked, addressing the whole table.

"Pongo is such a hassle!" South Dakota said, quickly and loudly. There was a corresponding screech from under the table.

"I'm sure you two will be fine together." North said soothingly. "It just might take a little time."

"Yeah, and Pongo?" Washington asked. "Where did you get that?"

"Phyllis recommended it. It's not like yours is any better!" She shot back quickly.

"You don't even know what it is." Wash replied, slightly smug.

"And what is it, Wash?" Carolina asked, wanting to avoid a fight.

"Noca. It's a variation on the jaguar's scientific name, onca." Wash told her.

"It's nice. My bear's name is Ursus. That's also part of the scientific name." She replied.

"It seems Phyllis gave us all similar advice. Vanar is similar to varanus." Wyoming spoke up. The other agents nodded.

"I named Timber after an alternate name of the grey wolf." York offered.

North nodded. "Chukcha is another name for a Siberian Husky."

"My crocodile's name is Atucus." Florida spoke up. "He's surprisingly affectionate."

"Teba likes to sit on me." Connecticut agreed. "She likes to be near to me."

"They latched onto us quickly." Carolina added. "What about you, Maine?"

Maine's voice was deep and gravely. "Her name is Crota." He responded.

Carolina nodded. "I heard that only some of the trainers will be here soon, and that they arrive once the animals are grown enough to train. I expect that Teba's trainer will be here soon, as well as maybe Vanar's. For some of us though, it might take more than a year."

There was a pause as that thought sank into the other agents. An entire year, at least, before even beginning to train the animals, longer to fight with them.

"That gives us lots of time to learn about each other though." York broke the silence with a shrug. The others murmured their agreement, and the conversation started back up once again.

Eventually, the pressing matter of feeding the young ones and letting them rest became enough of a deal that the group broke up to take care of their charges. Wash led the sleepy Noca back to his room, where he opened a smelly can of mushy meat product and set it on the ground for her.

"Here, eat up." He told her, waving his hand around to get rid of the smell and filling up a bowl with water for her before proceeding to take off his armor. Noca ate ravenously, hungry after a busy day of exploring. She then drank deeply. Once finished, she stared at him, water dripping off her messy, food covered face.

Washington shook his head and grabbed a towel. "Here, let me." He gently grabbed her head and began to wipe it clean. After a moment of shock, she purred again and leaned into his rubbing. He shook his head once more and tossed the towel aside. Noca batted at an old sock of Wash's whose partner he had never found. Wash himself lay down on his bed.

"Phyllis, show me some information about jaguars, please." He requested.

The two relaxed then, Noca eventually going over to her makeshift bed of blankets and curling up, sleepy eye lids closing once more. Wash smiled at her and continued looking through the information, before deciding to sleep. He turned the lights off, unknowingly waking up the jaguar cub. Soon though, both fell asleep, comforted by the steady breathing of the other.


	3. Chapter 3

Lean muscle moved smoothly beneath sleek, rosette covered tan fur. Padded feet made no detectable noise on the ground underneath hardened paws. Shoulders hunched and belly low to the ground, the jaguar moved patiently from hiding spot to hiding spot until sharp eyes held their prey not more than three strides away. Her muscles bunched for an instant, than she leapt out of concealment and in two easy bounds had sharp claws sinking into tough hide. The fully grown hog beneath her squealed and threw itself desperately around. Noca's not quite grown body would have flung off if not for her desperate grip. She pulled herself closer to the head of the hog and opened her jaw, revealing quite fully grown and very sharp teeth. Impressive jaw muscles bit down and the skull between her teeth broke, the hog falling to the ground.

"Nice job!" Agent Washington's familiar voice broke over the speakers of the training rink made especially for the animals. Noca's tail waved at the praise and her ears pricked, body straightening from having been crouched over her prey.

Another jaguar came out from the brush. "Your leap was too short, and you could have been quieter. But yes, you have grown much better." He said in the odd coughing noise that jaguars made.

Noca dipped her head respectfully at him. "Thank you, sir."

Wash soon came in to the rink. He ran his hand over her head, and she purred. "We'll beat North and Chuk easily later today!" He said confidently.

Noca looked anxiously at the older jaguar. "Yes, you may fight."

Wash grinned and Noca waved her tail excitedly. "See? We'll completely beat them. And you aren't even fully grown yet." It was true; Noca still had long, gangly legs and was not as muscled as she would be in a few months. Chukcha, on the other hand, had filled out nicely, with a deep chest that allowed for a booming bark, his long black and white coat no longer downy soft. Ursus was the only other still developing animal, as the larger species took more time. Wash and Noca was the last pair to be allowed to fight. Even after nearly two years of being together, still not all the animals had connected with their agent. Only Ursus, Chukcha, and surprisingly Atucus were able to communicate. Noca was beginning to wonder when they would connect. She had tried, though she didn't know what she was doing, to no avail.

Wash pulled Noca's ear, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Come on, we have to get you fed. I could use a snack myself." Noca whacked him with her tail and the other jaguar shook his head. "Go on."

Without hesitation, agent and partner went racing off to the mess hall. Noca was naturally faster, but her feet had little traction on the smooth floor and she was constantly sliding around. She coughed out, warning other people of the running pair as they sped through the halls. They rounded a corner and Noca could see the doorway to the cafeteria. Wash was only a step or so behind her, so she put on a little extra speed. She moved to make the turn in- and nearly went sliding past the door, back legs going out beneath her. Wash laughed and made it in first.

"Ha." He said triumphantly as she scrambled to her feet and walked inside. Wash got in line for food, Noca with him. He grabbed two plates and made a sandwich on one, and filled the other with meat. They walked to the freelancer table, where North, York, and Carolina sat.

"You two are going to hurt someone." North said as they sat down and Wash set Noca's meat plate on the floor. Noca and Wash dug in eagerly, Wash smirking. "You seem to assume we haven't already." He said around a mouthful of food. Chukcha butted Noca in the shoulder, she returned it with a nip, scarfing down her food before he could steal some.

North shook his head with a sigh. "Are you two good to fight? And swallow your food first."

Wash sighed and rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. "Hell yeah we're fighting." He grinned.

"Good." North's voice was confident. "We need practice against unconnected partners."

Wash rolled his eyes again and set a bowl filled with water out for Noca. "Drink up." He told her. "We fight in an hour and a half."

Noca and Washington stood facing North Dakota and Chukcha. Each pair was on opposite ends of the training rink. Noca's tail flicked in anticipation as Phyllis began counting down.

"Match begins in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Round begins." Both teams leapt at each other instantly. Wash and North aimed punches at each other. North ducked underneath Wash's arm and kicked his legs out from beneath him. Wash fell to the ground, blocking his head as North punched his helmet. Wash's legs lashed out and kicked North in the gut, forcing him away. Wash scrambled to his feet and ran into the field of blocks and boxes, to fight North there.

Chukcha and Noca, on the other hand, fought more like animals did: with claws and sharp teeth. Chukcha immediately went for Noca's front legs. Quick to fight back, Noca grabbed at his ear and pulled. Letting off a slight yelp, Chukcha let go. He growled and she snarled, before Chukcha darted for her again, this time snapping at her face. His longer muzzle allowed him to keep his face farther away from her snapping jaws. Angered, Noca slashed at him with extended claws. Seeing his chance, Chukcha grabbed at her chest, biting down swiftly. Yelping, she reared up slightly and clawed at his sides. Chukcha flipped her over so he was above her. The two of them continued to wrestle, snarling, biting, and clawing at each other.

Agent Washington waited, holding his breath behind one of the boxes. He listened for North's footsteps. A sudden weight came crashing down on top of him, and he fell to the ground with a loud grunt. North stood over him, and he punched him hard, sending Wash sliding into the open. Wash ended up facing Noca and Chukcha, seeing the two of them fighting hard, both bleeding from multiple wounds. Then North was above him. He picked him up and chucked him across the room.

Noca saw Wash go flying and snarled, renewing her efforts to get Chukcha off her. North walked up to Wash and pulled his fist back again. Noca cried out and wrenched herself away from Chukcha, not caring about the long scratch marks in her sides. Her mind leapt out at Wash in desperation and it was abruptly filled with his. She felt the pain that he was feeling from being hit around. She felt his confusion. She felt his desperation, to help her. Most of all, she felt the presence of his mind in her own. It was almost tangible. In a single instant, she had gone from being concerned over him to having two minds in her head. She stopped, nails screeching on the smooth floor and shook her head, pawing at it with a little cry, trying to relieve the pain and pressure.

Similarly, Wash's hands moved from where they were protecting his head to grip it, squeezing and groaning loudly. He could feel everything: Noca's pain from the scratches, her paws raking at her head, as well as his own pain and his hands. He curled in on himself, desperate for the feeling to go away.

Both Chukcha and North Dakota backed away, recognizing what was occurring.

The Director's voice came over the speaker. "Continue fighting."

"But sir-" North began.

"Continue, Agent North Dakota."

North hesitated, then walked up to Washington. He drew back his fist and punched him again, though not as harshly as before. Chukcha, taking the hint, knocked Noca to the ground and stood over her, growling and snapping.

Both Noca and Wash cried out as they felt first Wash's pain, then Noca's. Wash, fueled by a need to help Noca, grabbed North's fist and flipped him over in a tremendous effort. Noca could feel Wash's actions and shook her head snarling at Chukcha. She threw him off, as he wasn't fighting as aggressively as before, and backed up so she was touching Wash. Wash's fists raised in fighting style, and Noca's shoulders bunched up. Her ruff rose even more and she snarled again, louder. North and Chukcha faced the two. Chukcha's growling and Noca's threatening snarls were the only noise for a full minute as they regained their breath.

Without warning, Chukcha darted forward. Noca prepared herself to meet him, and so was thoroughly surprised when Chukcha went past her and launched himself at Wash. Noca was about to leap in to help when North slammed into her. She snarled once more and her claws latched onto his chest plate, and her jaws gripped his helmet. North grabbed her and slammed her against a wall repeatedly. Eventually, Noca cried out and fell off. Her claws, however, had had such a strong grip that part of his chest plate came loose.

Chukcha and Wash were wrestling, Wash aiming and landing punches and Chukcha clawing and biting at him. Wash felt his back press against the wall as Noca was slammed against it. He gritted his teeth and threw Chukcha to the ground. All four in the rink were suddenly aware of what Noca had done. Noca leapt at North as Chukcha raced to meet her. Wash followed not far behind and North struggled to keep Noca off of him. She was snarling in his face and clawing at him when Chukcha slammed into her. Being larger, he forced her to the ground. Wash jumped on top of North as Noca fought Chukcha. She managed to get away and jumped up, and stood, snarling. Chukcha leapt after her. She threw herself at him and they met in the air, claws scratching and teeth flashing. Chukcha's greater weight won out, and Noca landed awkwardly. Chukcha grabbed at her tail and bit down hard. Noca yelped in pain and grabbed his ear, tearing it. The two fought again, struggling against each other.

North fell to his knees, then with a yell, slammed Wash against the wall. Wash fell loose and North rounded on him. He picked him up again and forced him against the wall with one hand, while the other punched his head. Wash was soon limp, and North dropped him to the ground. He left Wash there and ran to where Noca and Chukcha were fighting. He kicked Noca from the side, sending her into the wall. This, however, gave her the chance she had been looking for to get to Wash. She stood over him protectively, even as he groaned and began to wake from his short period of unconsciousness. North and Chukcha moved forward slowly. Noca snarled at them and kept her back to the wall. Both rushed her, Chukcha getting there first. She reared to meet him, claws flashing and scratched him, desperation helping her. North grabbed her and she snarled, her front claws searching for the opening in his armor while her back ones continued to scratch at Chukcha, though not very well. North quickly slammed her to the wall, and then to the ground, holding her there. Chukcha stood over Washington, growling threateningly.

"Round one, over." Phyllis' voice cut through their battle fever, and North let Noca go. She scrambled to her feet and shoved Chukcha away from Wash with a snarl. She nosed him anxiously.

To her relief, Wash pushed her away. "I'm fine." He told her, slowly getting to his feet.

"Easy." North said, helping him.

Wash leaned against the wall as the medics came out. "No." He said, waving away the gurney. After a moment, he pushed away from the wall and slowly began to walk out, Noca limping at his side.

"How did you do that?" North asked Noca, trying to fix his armor. She only shook her head, too tired to answer and slowing with every step. Wash looked down at her before picking her up. She grunted in surprise, then settled in his arms, eyes drifting shut.

When she woke up, she was lying on her bed in Wash and her shared room. He was sitting on his bed, cleaning his armor. She sighed and put her head back down.

"Finally, you're awake. It's almost time to eat. You've been asleep for a few hours now."

She sat up. *Really?* She coughed out.

Wash nodded his head. "Yeah. I think the fighting and us connecting wore you out. I can understand you, by the way."

Noca slowly got to her feet and went to the water bowl that was near her bed. She drank the entire thing, then looked at Wash expectantly.

He shook his head. "You can drink more in the cafeteria. I can feel how hungry you are."

Noca realized that she was, in fact, hungry. Wash set his armor aside and stood up, stretching. Noca followed suit, before noticing the white bandages wrapped around her tail, as well as her sides and chest.

"What's this?" She asked him.

"Chukcha managed to break your tail bone there, as well as your other cuts." He replied. "I persuaded the medics that you didn't need your tail attached to your leg to keep you from moving it, so try not to."

She bobbed her head, a habit she had picked up from the soldiers. "Thanks." The two of them walked out and to the mess hall in a companionable silence. She walked with Washington to get food and water for herself, and settled down next to him, too tired to stand and eat. Chukcha, she noticed, was also lying down, having finished eating, and was resting. She ate her meal of meat and grains slowly, before laying her head down, touching Wash's leg comfortably.

"Good fighting." York told Wash as he and Noca sat down.

"Thanks." He replied, diving hungrily into his meal. He noticed that North was also not wearing his armor. "What's up with your armor?" He asked between bites.

"The armory has to fix the chest plate. I won't get it back until tomorrow. She bent the metal! Seriously, how did she do that?" North shook his head. "The armor has gone through explosions and only come out dirty."

Wash shrugged. "I'll ask her later. She's pretty tired." He himself was struggling to cover up a yawn.

Carolina noticed. "I saw that you two connected."

Wash nodded. "Yeah. Sucks in the middle of a fight." Carolina was the only other to have connected during a fight. She nodded her agreement.

"It gets better." North told him. "At first, it's like your minds are completely connected. You two will learn how to only connect when and what you want to."

Wash sighed. "Hopefully soon." He said, yawning again.

"The Director said that you four can get all the rest you need, and to report to him when you wake up." York chimed in.

"You'll probably go over what happened, then go off to train. That's what happened when we connected." Florida added.

Wash nodded again and set down his fork. "I think we'll go to bed now. We're both pretty tired."

The other agents nodded understandingly and said good night as Wash grabbed his tray and Noca's, both only half eaten, and nudged her. "Come on, let's go."

She slowly climbed to her feet and followed him mindlessly to the trash, then back to their room. Both were asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey all! Here's another chapter. If you want more sooner, I have the same story on Archive of Our Own under the same title. Its past the freelancer saga so check that out if you don't want to wait for updates. Also, to the person that wants a panther in this, I'm glad you do :3. It was already decided so that was cool. Also, North had a dog before the episode where the AI talk about a dog and Theta wants one, so I thought that was cool too. Thanks everyone for the support! I'll try to update soon but with school and all my extracurricular stuff, I get a bit busy. Thanks!**

The large bear suspected nothing. Freelancer Agent Texas watched as the bear sniffed around, trying to find the agile jaguar that crouched on top of a nearby box.

Not far away, the one she was told was Agent Washington was also hiding, from the bear's companion: Agent Carolina. The bear and Carolina both moved with the same caution, their steps in time. If she looked closely, Texas could see that the jaguar and Washington were breathing together.

At an unspoken signal, Washington spun out of hiding and swung his electrically charged pole at Carolina. The female agent dodged it and brought her own up to hit him. Washington jumped back and swung his back around.

Simultaneously, the jaguar leapt from her perch, snarling. She latched onto the massive shoulders of the bear as her weight swung her around the neck of the beast and her back claws gripped the shaggy fur. The bear roared his anger and stood on his hind legs, his own claws swiping at the jaguar draped around his neck. She snarled and bit at his face, grabbing his cheek. He roared again, this time his claws finding purchase on her shoulders. He threw her off of himself, tearing out some of his fur and skin. She landed and snarled quietly but menacingly. In response, he opened his massive jaws and roared; the sound echoed throughout the rink. The jaguar snarled loudly in response. Somehow the quieter noise punctured through the sound of the roar and Texas heard it, even within her private viewing deck. As if they were one mind, the two of them leapt forward and fought each other, scratching and biting. Texas noted with approval the jaguar's use of her smaller size as she darted underneath and around the bear.

Now on the opposite side of the rink, the two agents were done swiping at each other. Instead their poles were perpendicular to each other, the strength of both agents meaning neither moved. With an efficiency that impressed Texas, Agent Carolina knocked Washington's legs out from beneath him, ducking under his pole. He fell on his back and Carolina's foot came down on his arm. She knocked away the weapon as Washington's hand grabbed her leg and pulled hard. Carolina toppled over and Washington flung himself on top of her. The two of them wrestled for a moment. Carolina's hand grabbed at her dropped staff and she swung it around and jabbed it into Washington. Instantly, he clenched up and she knocked him off of her, quickly rising to her feet. Again, she brought the weapon down on him and a small grunt left his body.

Texas looked quickly at the two fighting animals. Sure enough, the jaguar had untangled herself from the bear, no doubt feeling her agent's pain. Jaguars were incredibly fast short distance runners, definitely faster than grizzly bears. Her body stretched out as she raced to Washington's aid. She leapt, claws extended, at the light blue agent and sent her flying, staff still embedded in Washington's armor. Carolina's head smashed into one of the boxes and she fell limp to the ground.

"Round one, over. Point to Washington and Noca." Phillys' voice said. The jaguar, Noca, was walking back to Washington. The bear, however, either didn't hear or didn't care; he didn't slow or falter as he slammed into Noca, easily knocking her off of her feet and ten yards away. He was on her before she could get up, stunned. His massive paws grabbed her and picked her up. He roared in her face again and threw her at the wall. She hit it hard and slid down. Again, he was on her. He picked her up again, this time in his mouth, and shook his head wildly. The jaguar cried out and clawed at his head. One of her claws scraped just above his eye, and blood dripped into it. He dropped her and roared in anger. His claws slashed at her, but she wasn't there. She was behind him, then on his back, her claws digging into his shoulders and her teeth going for his skull.

Dimly, Texas could hear the other agents in the main viewing room calling for help. Her fist slammed against the glass before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"No, Texas. Let the others handle it." The Director's smooth voice said. She clenched her fists but didn't move otherwise.

Down in the rink, a team of soldiers had come out. One was loading a rifle with a tranquilizer dart. Two more were holding Washington back, and the last two were getting Carolina on a gurney. The gunman aimed at the two fighting beasts, now head to head again, and squeezed the trigger. All eyes, except those working, followed the dart into the hind leg of the bear. For a moment, the two fought as if nothing had happened. Then, the bear's movements slowed. Gradually, he sank to the ground.

The sigh of relief was quickly turned into a gasp as Noca snarled triumphantly and leapt on top of him, biting and clawing in rage.

Texas watched as Washington broke away from the soldiers and tackled the jaguar fearlessly to the ground. She instantly stopped fighting, and in a few seconds, was trembling violently, worse than after their failed mission. Washington got off of her as the two soldiers came up with a second gurney. Carolina was already gone. They picked the jaguar up from the blood that had already pooled beneath her and laid her on the gurney. Washington climbed to his feet as well and walked alongside the jaguar as she shuddered, then slipped into unconsciousness.

"How are you feeling?" North asked as he walked in to the medical bay. Wash was sitting on a bed, out of his armor. A tray of uneaten food was nearby.

"I'm fine." Wash replied tiredly. North sat down next to him, Chukcha sitting on the floor at his feet.

"How's Noca?" North asked after a moment.

"She'll be okay. The doctor said she should wake up within the next hour." Wash stared at the jaguar. There was both an I.V. and a blood drip going into her foreleg. Her other foreleg had a bandage wrapped around it. Her entire rib cage was wrapped up and there were stitches across her body, no doubt beneath the bandages too, and a few on her face.

"He really did a number on her." North said sympathetically.

Wash nodded and rubbed his face. "She had a broken rib too, so she can't do much for the next week. Only short walks, no running or fighting."

North put his arm around him sympathetically. "But she'll be okay. Are you sure you're all right?"

Wash nodded again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Couple bruises. I'm going to be sore for a while. Nothing new though."

"You should eat something though." North said, even though he knew it was futile.

Wash shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Sleep?" He suggested, again already knowing the answer.

Wash shook his head again, not speaking.

North let off a sigh and leaned against the foot of the bed. "Well, I'm not leaving. Got a deck of cards?"

Wash chuckled despite himself. "I would rather just…sit."

"There wasn't anything you could have done. Ursus could have easily mauled you, armor or no armor."

"I know, but I still feel like…"

"I understand. When Chukcha got hurt on our first mission…"

The two agents sat in silence, staring at the motionless jaguar, waiting to see amber eyes.

Three days later, Wash, Noca, North, and Chukcha met up in the hallway. The two animals sniffed each other; it was Noca's first time out of her room since the fight. She was eager to be out, but she understood that she had to rest and take things easy.

Wash and Noca started down the hall to get some food.

North called out to them "Hey, Wash. Wait up. Listen, I heard you had a meeting with internals." He and Chukcha caught up and they walked together.

"Oh, you did?" Wash replied.

"Yeah. Do you mind if I ask what it was about?"

"Hm. Not really supposed to talk about that."

"Help me out here. I'm still getting heat about using equipment in the field." North stopped walking.

Wash stopped as well and turned to look at him. "You did? Really? Without a pipeline back to command server?"

"I had to improvise. We had a problem."

"Let me guess. Are you related to the problem?"

"Okay, now I don't want to talk about it."

"Equipment in the field…you know, don't forget what happened to Utah during training. You're lucky it didn't kill you."

"If I was lucky, I wouldn't have needed to use it at all."

"Well, you can relax. Internals didn't ask about you. It was something else. Lots of questions about the insurrection and transmissions coming out of our-" During their conversation, soldiers had been running past them. One bumped into Washington.

"Sorry, sir." He said quickly.

"Hey, what's going on?" Wash addressed the man. "Soldier, where is everybody running?"

"New agent is squaring off against Maine, Wyoming, and York on the training room floor. We're going to watch." He turned away from the four. "Hey guys, wait up!" He called after his friends.

"Three on one?" North asked incredulously.

"Heh, I gotta see this." Wash said. Noca took a few steps forward eagerly.

"Yeah, right behind you." North replied as the four began walking towards the training rink.

They arrived in time to see York, Maine, and Wyoming charge the agent in all black. With one swing, the agent had knocked them all off their feet. Their animals were stalking around, trying to find her partner.

"What's going on down there?" Carolina's voice cut in on the observers. Ursus wasn't with her. He wasn't allowed around the others for another few days. "There's no training on the schedule. It's impromptu. Who the hell is that?"

"Some new recruit." South answered with a shrug.

Down in the rink, the three had gotten up and charged again. Maine and York were instantly knocked to the ground, while the agent dodged Wyoming, got him behind their back, and thrust their pole underneath his neck and pulled him off the ground.

"He sure doesn't move like he's a recruit." Wash commented.

"Why do you assume it's a guy?" South asked immediately. "She's a girl." Pongo screeched and laughed from where he sat on South's shoulder. Noca immediately climbed to her feet and drew her lips away from her mouth.

"Oh…I didn't mean that he… I-I mean it…I mean her…I-" He stumbled through an attempt at apologizing, ignoring North's laughs.

"Right." South cut him off. Pongo quieted at a touch of her hand, and Noca lay back down to watch out of the lower windows with Chukcha.

"Sorry." Wash said finally.

"Just shut up." South turned back to the fight.

"Both of you: can it." Carolina cut in as she paced back and forth.

"Sounds like someone might be a little concerned about their position." They could all hear South's smirk.

"Hey South," Carolina shot back immediately. "Pay attention. You might actually learn something if you stop running your mouth for a minute." South turned back to watch grudgingly.

The agent flipped Wyoming to the ground as she swung her pole around and took care of York, then Wyoming again, then Maine. Electricity sparked everywhere and her pole snapped with the last hit to Maine.

During this time, a black blur had leapt onto Crota's back with tremendous force. The hyena hit the ground hard and didn't move. The blur had already moved on, already on Vanar's back. The Komodo Dragon attempted to whirl and bite the thing standing over him, which was now seen as a large, black cougar. It snarled and bit the large lizard. Vanar hissed loudly, then stopped abruptly as he was picked up in the cougar's massive jaws and tossed aside. Timber stood by, fur raised menacingly. He hadn't charged, focusing more on assessing the other animal. The two faced off for a moment, before the cougar leapt forward. Timber howled and reared, waiting for the cougar to land in his claws- not behind him, which was where the cougar ended, having cleared the standing wolf. Timber was taken by surprise as he was bowled to the ground and pinned down.

The black agent tossed the remains of the pole to the ground as Maine struggled to his feet, stumbling and wavering.

"Round one: over. Mutual sticks training: complete. Point awarded to Texas and Tasen." Phyllis said. "The current score is: Team One- zero points…"

"Texas, huh?" Wash spoke over Phyllis.

"I thought that name was reserved." Carolina responded, her arms folded over her chest.

"Nice moves." Wash added.

"Could be lucky. We'll see." They turned back to the window.

"Beginning hand to hand combat," Phyllis continued as the four fighters grouped in the middle of the arena. The team of animals faced the lone cougar, who snarled. "Round two begins in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin."

"Okay guys," York started as the four humans raised their fists. "This one should be easy, so let's just play it by the book. Maine, how about you flank left and-"

The agent in question had simply charged Texas, who knocked him back and on to the ground with one punch. Maine's hyena partner had done the same to the cougar, who had reared up and pummeled her with his sharp claws and heavy feet.

"…Or you could just charge in and get immobilized first." York said, slightly irritated. "Okay. Wyoming, let's stick together and-" The same thing happened to Wyoming and Vanar.

"What's the story? Am I the only one on the team that knows how to talk?" York asked. Timber sighed and grunted an agreement.

"I don't think talking is your problem." Texas spoke up from behind York.

"Oh no!" York said, aiming a punch at her head while she aimed one at his torso. Timber ran towards the cougar, changing direction to run past him at the last second. He leapt on the cougar's back. Said cougar whirled and let the charging Crota attack Timber instead, who howled again and let go of the cougar.

Similarly, York was sent into the air as the other two got to their feet and attempted to land any type of attack on Texas. Texas and the cougar had obviously shared the same idea, as Texas used the other agents against each other. She pummeled York easily, leaving all three on the ground.

"Wow!" Wash exclaimed, leaning away from the window.

"Okay, that was pretty impressive." North nodded approvingly. Carolina only watched silently.

"Okay guys," York sprang to his feet. "That obviously didn't work so well. How about this time we stay in formation instead of- dammit. Can't believe I actually volunteered for this crap." He said dismally as Maine and Wyoming both charged again. He ran forward as well, not seeing much more of an option.

Timber was once again having similar luck. Crota and Vanar had once again simply gone running at the black cougar. He sent a quick thought to York. *What do I do?*

*Just try and beat the overgrown cat, however you can.* York replied.

Timber bobbed his head and darted forward as well.

Once again, they all fought. Once again, no one was able to hurt the cougar or the agent.

"Round over. Point to Texas and Tasen. Hand to hand combat: complete. Now resetting the floor for lockdown paint scenario."

"Ugh. I hate that paint." Wash turned away from the window.

Noca nodded her head. *It takes forever to clean off.* She agreed.

"Tell me about it. It stings like a bitch." South sighed.

"It turns your armor hard as a rock." North added.

"I wouldn't know." Carolina said. Everyone in the room looked at her. "Not that bad if you don't let it hit you."

"Thanks. I'll try to remember that." Wash said, sounding annoyed. Noca let off a quiet snort, quick to agree with her partner.

"…three in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin." All agents had grabbed their paint guns and readied them. The team went into the field and hid, taking a more tactical strategy. The animals stalked around not far from them.

"Maine," York called. "Maine! Look, I'm going to move left. You go-" He sighed as Maine simply ran out again and pink light flashed as he was gunned down by the pink paint balls. "Or you just run out and do whatever you want and get killed. Ready, break. Good job everybody." He added tiredly. He turned around only to see Wyoming with his helmet coated in the paint. "Oh man, it's going to be a long day."

By this point, Crota and Vanar were also lying on the ground, stunned, though Timber didn't know it. He had chosen to confront the cougar on his own. It wasn't far from what he had been doing anyway. Unfortunately, Timber didn't know of cougars skill at climbing. He was once again taken by surprise when he was knocked to the ground by a large black cat. He struggled for a moment, fighting to get up and at least get away. He managed to, and he raced away from the boxes in the center of the rink, to where he would be able to see the cougar. They continued their more deadly game of chase before the Tasen managed to get Timber back into the field of boxes. There, he was easily taken down by the large cougar.

York had also managed to avoid Texas for a while, seeing fleeting glimpses of her, but soon he to found his helmet coated in paint.

Over and over, the team of six found themselves being beaten down again and again by the two elusive fighters. They still had yet to be even scratched.

It was suddenly in round nine that different sights and sounds occurred. Live bullets flew from the guns of Maine and Wyoming. Both York and Timber stared in confusion. Agent Texas dodged all of them. Tasen made as if to help her, then stopped and turned back to fight the other animals.

"What?! Are they using live ammo in the training rink?" Wash asked, surprised.

"Looks like it." Carolina said coolly.

"That's against protocol, they're going to kill her!" Wash persisted.

"Probably." Carolina replied, still unconcerned.

"Someone should get the Director." Wash walked away from the window, but didn't leave.

"The Director?" C.T. spoke up from where she has stood. "Who do you think gave them the ammo?"

"Watch your mouth, C.T." Carolina reprimanded sharply. C.T. turned back to the fight.

Down in the rink, York shoved Wyoming's hand aside, but the two agents persisted on their murderous course. Agent Texas continued to dodge the bullets.

Crota and Vanar attacked the cougar with a new viciousness while Timber stood by watching, uncertain as his agent. Tasen was distracted, worried about Texas.

Texas aimed the paint gun at the firing agents, but missed for the first time that day. York dodged everything and ran up to Texas, who aimed her gun at him.

"Woah!" York said, staring down the barrel. "I'm trying to help!"

"I don't need your help." Texas replied adamantly. "Never abandon your team."

Wyoming interrupted them and Texas pushed York out of the way. She dodged the bullets and used the paint to stick Maine's hand and gun to one of the boxes, still trying to get away from Wyoming.

York put his hand on Texas' shoulder. "Here," he began, before Texas punched him three times, then slammed him to the ground.

Timber had had enough. He burst into action, long legs running towards Texas and York. York had only been trying to help and that little bitch-

Once again, the black blur took him down. He hit the ground with a sickening crunch and a yelp as his foreleg twisted beneath him.

Texas coated Wyoming with paint, effectively freezing him. She walked towards York just as Maine ripped his arm from where it had been stuck and charged once again. He smashed a wall that only hit York as Texas dodged it and began fighting Maine, blowing him backwards with effective shots from the paintball gun. As he was falling, he pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it at Texas.

She dodged it- only to have it land in front of York.

"Hey!" She shouted in hopes of getting him to realize it. He only groaned and fell back to the ground right next to the live grenade.

Timber cried out as he realized what was going on and attempted to run to York. His broken leg gave out beneath him the second he tried running and he hit the ground. Tasen stood over him in order to keep him from trying again. Crota and Vanar were down and not moving.

Texas fired a series of shots from the paintball gun to the front of York's armor, covering it in pink paint just as the grenade exploded in York's face.

"Dammit! That maniac!" Wash said loudly as the group in the viewing deck made their way quickly down to the rink.

"Phyllis, we need a medic to the training floor, stat." Carolina told the program before following the others.

"Medical team en route. Please remain calm." Phyllis announced.

The agents ran to York, crying his name. The animals ran to Timber. Noca snarled angrily at Tasen, who backed away from the odd pack. Chukcha and Noca quickly helped Timber to his feet, as Teba soared above them and Pongo screeched at Tasen, and got him over to York, where he whined and nosed his partner.

The medical team was getting York on a gurney as Carolina spoke. "Come on York, hang in there."

"Can't believe she did that." South said, quieter than usual. "Shot his armor, sacrificed him."

Wash turned to her. "Lock down hardens the armor. She probably saved his life."

"Quick thinking." North added.

"Yeah." Carolina said, still staring at York. "Really quick." They all looked over at where Texas was kneeling on the ground, two medics by her and Tasen standing very close.

They all scrambled to their feet and to attention as the Director's voice cut in. "Everyone, stand down. Now! You should be ashamed of yourselves. I expect you to act as a team."

"They used live ammunition on the floor sir, that's against regulation." Wash spoke up.

"Do you think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield, Agent Washington." They all backed away from the clearly angry man as he advanced on Washington. Noca tucked her tail self-consciously but remained glued to Wash's side.

"So…you're not punishing them?" Wash asked as the Director backed up.

"Ingenuity and adaptability are admirable traits." He answered as York began to wake up, groaning. "You should all learn something from this." The Director added as he walked away. "Dismissed."

"Yeah, we should learn something all right." C.T. said.

"I can't believe this!" Wash said, incredulously.

"Don't forget to check your place on that list, Wash." C.T. responded in a sing-song voice.

The group split up again as Carolina watched the medics help get Texas to the medical bay. "Don't touch me." She said harshly.

Carolina, North, and Washington all stood in the medical bay, waiting to hear a word about York. Noca and Chukcha were curled up near Timber. The wolf was sleeping fitfully; every few minutes he would wake up and look around to see if York had come out yet and every time someone moved, he would try to stand up. Each time Noca nosed him comfortingly and Chukcha very gently pushed him back down. Each time he would sigh and go back into the restless sleep.

The agents were all quiet, each thinking about what had happened that day. The doors opened and they all looked up eagerly. To their dismay, Texas and Tasen walked out. They all sagged back down to go back to their thoughts- except Noca. She remained on her feet and glared at the cougar and her fur rose. A snarl escaped her mouth as they walked past, pulling everyone out of their stupor. Wash stared at the jaguar as Tasen turned his head and snarled back. Noca took a threatening step forward and Tasen did the same.

Texas snapped her fingers at the cougar. Tasen didn't back down. Wash pushed himself away from the wall and moved towards the two snarling cats.

"Noca, that's enough." He told her, still surprised.

She didn't back down, opening her mouth wider and snarling louder.

"Noca." Wash said again, his voice quieter and more dangerous. Noca quickly closed her mouth and quieted, but her fur didn't go down. Texas grabbed Tasen's scruff and pulled him away. He shook himself and walked away, his ruff still raised as well.

As the doors closed after the two, North spoke up.

"Well that was…odd." He said.

Wash shook his head. "I don't know what came over her, but obviously he felt it to." He walked over to a control panel. "Phyllis, pull up information on jaguars."

Phyllis obligingly did so and Wash read skimmed through it. After a moment, he nodded his head. "Jaguars are territorial. They have their own area, and apparently sometimes females' area will cross over, but only two females. I guess Noca was feeling threatened by another big cat, as well as him hurting Timber. I'll bet that cougars are territorial as well." With a few commands, he had another page pulled up. "They are, but apparently cougars and jaguars usually get along. It says…oh. It says that 'the usually larger jaguars remain dominant over cougars and leopards in the area, in general being able to outwit and outweigh them'." He looked around.

"I don't know if Noca is small, or that cougar is large, but he is definitely bigger than her." North said with a shrug. "Not to be offensive or anything." He added quickly after looking at the obviously agitated jaguar.

"Noca is relatively small, as well as the male and female size difference." Wash agreed. "And she knows it." He looked at her. She only lay back down and nosed Timber again, distracting herself.

"Well, hopefully she can beat him. We might need someone." Carolina spoke up finally.

The other two looked at her in surprise but said nothing.

The group settled down to wait again, hoping for good news.


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, well I just ran everything again: all calculations are up to date, taking into account standard delays in all communication and response time, our window looks good." The computer generated AI voice said.

"I agree." The Director replied.

"Well you should. I'm sure you would have made the same calculations I did, just, you know, more slowly." The AI sounded sure of himself.

"Arrogance is a rather unbecoming trait, Alpha."

"Are you seriously giving me a lecture on arrogance right now? Pfft- heads up, you got a visitor." The AI switched from joking around to quickly serious as Carolina walked up.

"Director?" She said.

"Log off." He told the AI.

"Yeah yeah, way ahead of you, Boss." The light from the screen quickly powered down.

"Yes, Agent Carolina."

"The team is ready, sir."

"Excellent. Let us begin." He walked over to where all the freelancers, animals, and the pilot, 479er, stood, except for York and Timber, and Carolina followed him to the display they were gathered around. "Agents, your mission today is by the far the most important to date. As our number one, Carolina will be leading from the field."

"Okay," she began. "As you may have heard, there is suspected Insurrection activity in this area." The display grew larger. "Our intelligence tells us that members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection have acquired a high-level acid and are holding it in this secure location. It's a hundred-and-ten story building in an urban environment."

"What does security look like?" Wyoming asked.

"They have enough troops to fill a hundred-and-ten story building." Carolina pointed out.

"So, that's a lot of security." Wyoming nodded.

Carolina continued, "We're up to it. Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."

"The Sarcophagus?" North cut in.

"That is what we are calling the primary objective." The Director explained.

"But, since this is a high-level asset, we need to access the key-code in order to open the Sarcophagus." Carolina added.

"I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side." Wash said jokingly.

"Its being held by an official of the program, who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspections. That's when we'll hit the facility. We need to acquire both targets within minutes of each other. If we fail that, the remaining target will enter lockdown and we will miss our window." Carolina looked at the team.

"We will not have another chance at this." The Director said seriously.

"So that means two teams." Wash spoke up again.

"Two teams." Carolina nodded. "Team A will consist of me, Wash, and Maine. We will work infiltration on the package's storage facility. York is still in the infirmary, so Wash? You will have to pull lock picking duty."

Noca could feel Wash's sudden nervousness. "Um, okay. Guess I'll reread my field manual in the transport."

The doors to the briefing area opened then, and York and Timber walked in. "Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job."

"York?" Wash was surprised, as were they all.

"I thought you were in the hospital." Carolina walked towards him.

"According to their records, we are." He and Timber looked slightly smug.

"How's your eye?" She asked.

"It's okay. Docs will let me out tomorrow." York and Timber walked to the display. The advanced medicine and care showed clearly on both of them: York seemed to be himself and Timber walked tall and strong, not limping in the slightest.

"Tomorrow, huh?" Wash said as Noca and Timber touched noses.

"I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me." York spread his arms. "Besides, you need someone to get you in."

"Listen, I'm happy to see him too, but this mission, I don't know…" Wash told Carolina, walking away from the display.

"Hey, York says he's good, then he's good." Carolina replied, walking past him.

"It's your call, Boss." Wash replied, following her.

"You're good, right?" Carolina asked him in an under tone.

"Hey, I said I was okay. 'Good' might be overselling it a little." York admitted.

"It's settled then. York will join Team A and get them in the facility." The Director cut in.

"Thank you, sir." York responded.

"Transports will be two lightly rigged Pelican drops." Carolina continued.

"We're rigged for fast-running only people, no heavy armaments." 479er put in.

"Team B will be North, Wyoming, and C.T." Carolina listed. "You will act as recon for Team A, and once we enter the building you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway. North will lead Team B."

"Got it." North confirmed, Chukcha's tail wagging.

"What about Agent South?" C.T. asked.

"Agent South will not be accompanying you on this mission." The Director responded with little explanation.

"Hm. Guess the world's a tough place when you move down a rank." C.T. shrugged his explanation off. "And where's our new recruit? Will she be joining us?"

"That's enough questions, Connecticut." The Director cut in.

"Noticed he didn't say no." She said softly. Only Wash, Noca, and Teba her hawk heard her comment.

"Team B should be simple. Stop the vehicle and grab the case." Carolina acted as if nothing had happened. "Team A, you have more of a challenge. Mainly, the Sarcophagus is an unknown."

Wash looked at Carolina. "How unknown are we talking?"

"Unknown in that we don't know its size or its weight or its dimensions. We just know it will have these markings somewhere on the exterior." An odd image appeared on the display.

"I saw those same markings on the oil platform." North referred to one of the previous missions that had cost South her higher rank.

"Correct," The Director said. "That facility created the primary objective."

"Do we know what's inside it?" Wash asked.

"Yes, we know." The Director answer simply.

C.T. spoke up again. "How do we know what's in it, but now how big it is?" A moment of silence followed her statement, and she looked up to see the Director staring directly at her. "Sorry sir." She said quickly and put her head back down.

"We have a job to do people. Let's do it right and come home safe." Carolina finished her briefing.

"That is all. You are dismissed." The Director said authoritatively.

The soldiers and animals snapped to attention in sync. "Yes, sir." They all conveyed in a well-practiced manner, whether by speech or thought.

Noca hated dropping. There was technology to give animals implants that allowed them to communicate basically through telepathy, change the temperature in a small radius around themselves, and make it so they could move around during the day, but no way for them to actually pull their own parachutes. So, each of the animals was strapped to their partner, minus Teba. She had it easy, being able to fly down alongside them. The others, excluding Ursus, were strapped to the front of their freelancer, completely off the ground. None of them enjoyed the feeling. Ursus and Carolina had special rigging so that Ursus had his own parachute that Carolina could launch. It was riskier than the regular way, but there was no other way because of Ursus' massive size. Ursus and Noca had settled down after an initial hair raising meeting. They regarded each other coolly, spending the shortest amount of time possible by each other and in general ignoring one another. Still, it was with immense relief that Noca shook herself after being released from the rigging, all of them safe on the ground. That was all the time she had before moving towards the huge building, gliding on silent feet.

"We're in." Carolina spoke to North after the doors slid shut behind Team A. Noca, being able to move the quietest and blending in the best, left to establish a perimeter and ensure that no one was near their immediate area. "York, get up here. How long to crack that lock?"

York lowered his weapon from where he was scanning the area and walked towards the door. "Should take about sixty seconds. You can give me fifteen." He examined the lock further. "Wow, is that holographic? That's high end."

"Can you get through it?" Carolina asked, sounding almost nervous.

"'Course I can. Didn't bring me along for my good looks, did you?" He responded confidently. "Whoever designed this is a genius."

As he finished speaking, an alarm sounded and lights flashed that brought Noca running back.

"You were saying?"

"Okay, I take it back. Whoever designed this is an asshole." York was quick to begin working on the lock again. "There." The doors slid open and the alarm stopped. "Everybody in."

"Thanks York, but do something about that alarm system. We don't need any more surprises." Carolina said as she walked into the room, the others following.

"Does saying sorry count as something?" York asked smoothly.

Carolina looked at him.

"Hm, guess not."

"We'll secure the package. Set some trackers and then find us a way out of this."

"Moving." He and Timber took off at a jog."

As the doors slid shut behind them, Carolina began speaking again. "All right everyone, spread out. What we need is here somewhere. It's probably something small, easy to miss. Take as many scans as possible, there may be something here we can use." The six of them moved to different areas of the room, looking for the odd symbol. Maine picked up a wicked looking weapon with a long, curved blade and a gun attachment and held it as if it was always his.

Wash walked past. "That's a good look." He said.

Maine made a noise of agreement and the two continued looking.

"Carolina?" York commed. "Motion-trackers indicate we got an enemy team outside the door."

"Well let's hope they're not as good at picking locks as you are, York." Carolina took her finger off the button that allowed her to transmit. "All right team, we're about to have company."

Wash walked up to her quickly. "Boss, I have good news and bad news."

Carolina looked at him. "Hit me."

"We found the markings we're looking for. The bad news is, they're on that." He gestured to a box big enough to hold two soldiers in full armor that Noca was sniffing curiously.

"That?" Carolina asked, slightly incredulous.

York commed again. "Hey, I got us an exit up here. Straight up the stairwell, door to the roof, helipad."

"Copy." Carolina replied. "I'll radio air support. Now, how are we going to get that thing up to the roof?"

Maine shrugged.

"York, I saw a window washing unit when we were entering the building. Can you find out where it attaches?"

"Uh, I don't know. That's a tough one. Let me see what I can do."

"What are you up to?" Wash asked.

"Improvising." Carolina replied. "Come here, Maine."

"Improvising? I hate it when we do that." Wash, with Noca and Crota, followed the two agents. Ursus stayed back with the Sarcophagus.

Wash and Noca turned to watch the enemy's progress with cutting the door open as Carolina set up her plan. "Better hurry." Wash called.

"Maine, this should work fine." Carolina reassured him. "You're the only one heavy enough to counter-balance."

"Too high." Maine told her, holding tightly to the rope.

"Oh, don't be a baby." Carolina replied, and promptly kicked him out of the building. She shot the rope that was holding the window cleaning unit in place and Maine, and it flew upwards as Maine went fell down. Before anyone could stop her, Crota ran out the window as well, using her claws to give her some traction as she actually ran down the side of the building. She landed next to Maine and let out the odd laughter of the hyenas as Maine landed on a balcony, pulled out his new weapon and began walking towards the enemy team, Crota at his side.

"Package is here." York radioed.

"Well that ought to buy us some time." Carolina said, turning away from the window.

"I almost feel bad for the people down there." Wash replied. Noca nodded her head in agreement.

Carolina looked at them. "Don't." She said, walking away.

"What?" Wash said. He looked down at Noca. "I said 'almost'." Noca shrugged her shoulders.

*She's kind of odd.* She thought. Wash tapped her head not unkindly.

*That's no way to think of your leader.* he replied.

The doors blasted off and the two agents ducked, then began firing as Noca snarled loudly. They killed five soldiers before the dust had cleared. One stood alone now. He had dark grey armor with red covering much of it. The visor looked like the mouth of a shark rather than the standard visor, and he carried a very large gun which began to glow orange.

Wash looked at Carolina. "What the fuck is with this guy?"

Carolina didn't have a chance to reply as the gun spit out flame at the three of them.

"Oh that's hot!" Wash shouted as he dove to the side. Noca leapt out of the way and onto a table top as Carolina rolled clear, grunting. The two agents fired at him, but the bullets bounced off his armor. He aimed the flame thrower at Wash and pulled the trigger. A large blast of fire came out and Wash once again dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the flame. He chucked a grenade, which was burned. Wash ran away from the flame again.

*Stay away, Noca.* He thought at her. *You can't get close.*

Noca flicked her tail at him but remained crouched behind the Sarcophagus with Ursus.

"I've got this." Carolina said. She aimed a gun from the table in front of her. However, the gun overheated and sent her flying backwards with a cry. Ursus roared and burst from hiding. He charged at the soldier, weaving around to avoid the fire. This distracted the man from Wash, who raced forward to get the gun that Carolina had grabbed. He aimed and fired at the floor in front of the soldier- only to have the flaming bullet bounce off the floor and out the door.

"What the hell?! It bounces? Who designs a gun that bounces? This is the worst gun ever. Of all-" He was cut off by Carolina tackling him and saving him from another burst of fire. Ursus was kept away by a line of fire on the ground.

"Stay. Low." Carolina ordered and ran across the room again. She ran up the wall and onto a ship that hung from the ceiling. She fired again at the soldier and again the bullets bounced off.

He blasted fire and the ropes caught. She chucked a grenade into the ship and pushed off of it. She went through the air while the ship was pushed towards the soldier. It exploded in front of him and knocked him off his feet. He stood up again, only to be hit and knocked away by a gun thrown by Carolina.

The other three joined Carolina. "That guy was a dick." Wash said.

"Come on." Carolina sounded tired as the four ran out of the room. "Let's get going, Wash."

"That bit with the purple plane?" He replied. "That was just showing off." 


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on, come on! Hurry!" York urged them on as the group of four ran through the door to the roof. He broke the control panel with his elbow. "There, that oughta hold them for a while." As soon as he finished speaking, the group could see the signs of someone trying to weld through the door. "Okay, maybe not." He and Timber jogged to catch up to Wash and Noca. "Hey, where's Maine and Crota?"

"Downstairs, keeping our hosts occupied." Wash replied.

"Man, I almost feel bad for them."

"That's what I said!"

"479er, this is Team Alpha. We need evac on the roof of the tower." Carolina radioed.

"Roger that, I'm on it." The pilot replied.

"Come on, it's up…here." York said as the six spotted Agent Texas and Tasen. The agent was placing something on the ground while Tasen was watching them. Noca narrowed her eyes at the cougar but didn't make any other threat at him.

"You! What are you doing here?" Carolina asked her as Texas stood up. "Is that a bomb? I knew it. It was you who blew up the oil platform."

"That thing blew up?" Wash asked, keeping his hand over Noca, ready to grab her if he needed to.

"Somebody's been covering our tracks." She explained, before turning back to Texas. "You're on the roster too, but they hid your name. Why did they send you?"

"Hey, hate to bust your reunion, but we got a problem." York said as the doors burst open.

"Let's go, go, go, now! Get into position! Completely surround them!" The Insurrectionists flooded out the door. Most encircled the freelancers, while the rest flew in on jet packs or ships in the air. "No one get behind me. Drop your weapons." The freelancers did so and Noca and Tasen sheathed their claws.

The soldier addressed York. "You, dickhead. Disarm the bomb."

"Easy, easy. No need to get all dramatic. Let me take a crack-" York said, beginning to walk over to the device.

"Yeah, fucking do it already."

"Easy, easy." York picked it up. "Uh, this isn't a bomb. It's a transmitter."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, it's not a bomb. Wait, a transmitter? What's it transmitting?"

"Our location." York looked directly up at the sky.

"Why would it do that?" The soldier asked.

Suddenly, a ring of red light beams appeared around the building and the device began blinking. The beams narrowed into one that rested in the center of the device and the beeping increased.

"What the hell? There were four of them here!" The soldier exclaimed, looking over to where Wash and the animals stood alone. One of the soldiers punched the two on either side of them and kicked a third. Their armor shimmered and changed to reveal Carolina. Ursus roared and jumped in to help her. "What the fuck is going on?! What did I say?! I said one thing: keep them in front of me." The man continued talking as all around him his soldier were attacked.

York looked around, still holding the device. "Hey man, do you mind holding this for me for a sec?" He asked, giving it to the raging soldier. "Oh, thank you." York slipped away, leaving the man alone.

He looked up, just as a beam came in from space. "Oh, son of a-" His words were cut off as he was blasted. The glass flew off the building as it shook beneath them. Everyone was thrown off their feet, but the freelancers and animals managed to stay on the building, unlike the Insurrectionists. They got to their feet, just as the roof began to cave in.

Texas and Tasen ran towards the edge, grabbing a jet pack and kicking the Sarcophagus off the building. They jumped off after it just as the other six began running away from the increasing hole in the roof.

"This must be karma for kicking Maine out the window." Carolina said angrily as they ran towards the edge.

"I don't wanna do this!" York shouted as they jumped.

"Son of a bitch!" Wash added as Carolina yelled.

Wash and York grabbed their animals as Carolina and Ursus just fell next to each other. They did their best to streamline themselves and control their fall. Carolina managed to land on the Sarcophagus as 479er caught up with them. The shuttle door opened directly beneath the group. Ursus fell through first, then Timber and Noca as there was little they could do.

Carolina traded places with Wash on the Sarcophagus, as he pulled out his gun and began shooting at the Insurrectionist ships.

Texas and Tasen flew in on her jet pack and rammed the Sarcophagus, forcing it, Wash, Tasen, and herself into the shuttle.

The jet pack sparked as 479er looked back. "Hold on." She said, righting the shuttle and blasting away from the chaos.

Texas walked into the pilot's area. "Get the package back to command, now."

"On it." The pilot replied. "Command, this is 479er, the Sarcophagus is secure, I repeat, the Sarcophagus is secure."

Back in the bay, Texas was seeing if she could make the jet pack work.

"So, jet packs huh?" Wash said, one hand on Noca.

Texas only set the pack aside and ran out of the ship, dropping into the air.

"That was interesting." Wash said, turning away as the door shut.

479er landed the ship near the wreckage that Team B was hidden behind. The door opened and Wash, Noca, Ursus, and Crota rushed out of the bay. Tasen was lying silently in the corner, watching. Crota and Ursus ran to into the fight to join Chukcha and Teba where they were fighting the Insurrectionists.

"Noca." Wash snapped his fingers and the jaguar was at his side. They ran to Wyoming and Vanar. Wash picked up the large lizard and placed him on Noca's back. She turned her head and nosed him as Wash helped Wyoming to his feet. He draped one of the wounded soldier's arm around him and Noca pressed herself against his better leg. The jaguar was a little more than two feet tall at the shoulder but still did her job of guiding the awkwardly walking people to the ship. C.T. limped behind. She whistled and Teba flew in, closely shadowed by the running animals.. The remaining agent threw a grenade at their enemies and ran onto the ship. By the time the Insurrectionists looked again, the ship was already taking off.

York and North had strapped in the agents, and tethered the animals to a wall when 479er opened the door and they saw Carolina with her helmet off, walking towards them. Tex wasn't in sight.

York extended his hand to her, a silent symbol of the team. Carolina grasped his arm and accepted his help onto the ship. She strapped herself in next to Ursus and York sat next to her. The ride back to _Mother of Invention_ was silent.


	7. Chapter 7

The entire ship shook wildly as the enemies missiles hit _Mother of Invention_. The team in the drop ship, consisting of Carolina and Ursus, North and Chukcha, Wash and Noca, South and Pongo, and C.T. and Teba, shook but didn't move from where they were strapped in. The animals jostled around a bit more, being only tethered to the wall rather than actually held down, but their new armor did the trick for them. The metal was thin but strong, and pliable to be able to move with the animals' motions. Each set was slightly different to fit the fighting style of that beast. The coloring was a simple grey with highlights that matched their agent: light blue for Ursus, yellow for Noca, tan for Timber, etc. The armor covered most of their body, leaving only the head and feet exposed for fighting. The tail armor was also slightly different in order to keep the animal balanced. It was slightly uncomfortable and scratchy for them and they wore it only on missions and when fighting, far less than their human counterparts did. Nevertheless, it certainly did its job.

With a word from 479er, the drop ships left the shuttle bay of _Mother of Invention_ and flew off into space in pursuit of the enemy ships.

Carolina jogged back from where she had been talking with the pilot. "You heard her. We're going for the main hanger. Be ready for anything." Half of the team were standing and readying themselves. The animals were all of their leads and were standing ready next to their agents.

"So much for a smooth ride." North laughed.

South looked over at him. "What's the matter, feeling sick?"

"Hey, I'm not the one that needed a barf bag on all our family trips." He retorted.

"How are you feeling? Are you up for this?" Wash asked Carolina, sitting down next to her and placing his hand on Noca's head.

"Say what you want to say, Wash." She replied, checking over her weapon.

"It's just, giving up your AI was a big deal. I thought may-"

"I'll be fine. Worry about yourself." Carolina ended the conversation and Wash looked down at the jaguar pressed comfortingly against him. She could feel his slight feeling of being cut off and she twisted around to put her head on his lap and give him something to distract himself with.

"You're awfully quiet." South told C.T., sitting down next to her.

C.T. jumped slightly. "Oh, just, trying to prepare myself."

"Hey, worst comes to worst we'll just be kicked off the leader board. At least us ladies will be sticking together, right?"

C.T. didn't answer, and she didn't have to as the ship was hit again and 479er's "dammit" was heard from the cockpit. "Opening rear bay." She called back.

The team rose to their feet and Carolina called out "Get their helmets on, people."

The agents reached over to their animal counterparts and hit a button on their armor. Helmets rose up and covered their heads, air hissing out as they were made air tight. Tubes attached themselves to the tanks each animal carried to supply them with oxygen. In an emergency, the tubes could be attached to the freelancers.

The doors opened and the team stared out at the wreckage of rocks and smashed ships.

"Right." Carolina said. "All together. Use your pack sparingly. Course correction only." She was referring to the jet packs that each agent wore. The animals would have to be carried, or in the case of Ursus, towed. The two had had to go through special training for that. "You don't want to end up like Georgia."

"Wait, what happened to Georgia?" Wash asked.

"Nobody knows, they never found him!" South shouted back.

"You sure these things are safe?" He called.

"Yeah." South hollered back as North primed his gun.

479er pulled the ship around quickly and the agents leapt out, grabbing their animals and starting their packs. Noca felt her stomach rolling as she and Wash spun around, unlike the rest of the agents.

A soldier on the Insurrectionist ship saw them coming and pointed. "Battle stations, we're under attack!" He yelled.

A nearby soldier continued his work. "No shit we're under attack, what do you think we're doing, rolling out the red carpet?"

The man pointed again as his buddy stood up, carrying a stack of guns. "No, assface. Look."

The man saw the team and sighed. "Aw hell." One of the guns dropped and discharged, killing the first soldier. "Not again." He groaned. "Sorry 'bout that-ah!" He was promptly shot in the head.

The team flew inside and dropped and unhooked the animals as they hit the ground. Ursus roared inside his helmet and charged, followed quickly by Chukcha and Noca. Pongo ran to the left side of the barricade and leapt in. Noca ran with Chukcha to the barricade, but didn't follow him over. Instead, she made her way inside the pile of stuff and to the right end, bursting out there with a ferocious snarl. Chukcha worked his way towards her while Ursus moved towards Pongo to allow them to fight in pairs.

North and South landed and answered the Insurrectionist's bullets with their own. Wash was back behind the barricade and he ran to the control panel. Carolina landed amongst the gun men and began slashing and fighting, taking out as many as possible.

Wash managed to get back to the panel, where no one else was. "Okay, where's that security override? Come on…Dammit!" He yelled and smacked the panel. A warning flashed, reading "Warning: Artificial Gravity Disabled". "Uh oh, that's not good." He looked up. "Hey guys? Things might get a little…floaty."

Meanwhile, Noca slashed at one soldier's exposed arms with her claws snarling in his face through the visor. He yelled in surprise and dropped his weapon. Sharp claws scratched his face and blood welled as his yells of surprise turned to screams of pain. She retracted her claws, lined them up with his ears, and unsheathed them again. The man's screams cut off quickly and she let go of her hold on him, bounding away to another. She tackled him to the ground and slashed again. A blooming pain hit her side and threw her off the man as four bullets hit the armor. She snarled and dodged the next set. Every attempt she made at him she had to stop because of the bullets.

A second set began to hit her as the other man began firing as well, though half blinded by blood. She snarled and jumped to one side, never stopping her movement. A black and white blur hit the first shooter and he went down, gun flying out of his hands. Chukcha scratched at him and Noca snarled in triumph. She was about to go to the other shooter when she felt a change in her surroundings. Her claws extended and latched onto a piece of the barricade as everything began floating. She looked over at Wash and made eye contact, sending an amused emotion at him before pushing off of her anchor at the very confused soldier. Her weight sent them flying South's eye sight and she pushed off him as a bullet went through his body.

"Everyone, enable grav boots." Wash said, activating his own, as did the rest of the team.

The team used their advantage to further harm the confused and distressed Insurrectionists.

*Let's get up there.* Chukcha directed at Noca and crouched down. Noca nodded once and ran towards him, using their connected minds to help time the maneuver. She leapt onto his back and hooked one of her claws onto his armor as the rest pushed off of him even as he straightened up to give them the added boost. Her hold on him held and she pulled him in the air after her. They landed together on a floating car and bounded away in different directions. Noca batted two of the soldiers down to Ursus, where his mauling claws promptly took care of them. They worked as a team, Noca mainly hitting soldiers towards Ursus and the big bear killing them. This system worked best for him, as he still had trouble managing his big weight and body in the air.

"Okay, okay…I got it! I got it!" Wash shouted as the gravity enabled sign flashed back. "Oh man." He said as a car went hurtling towards the air at him and ducked. "Why do cars hate me."

Everything and everyone fell to the ground, some more graceful than others. Noca managed to land on top of an enemy soldier, who she promptly killed by forcefully slamming his head into the ground.

'They know we're inside." Carolina said, ignoring the dead soldiers all around her as the team regrouped. "Wash, North, secure that hallway. South, see if you can access the leader's location. We don't leave without him."

"Got it, I'm already on it." South said as she and Pongo left, North, Wash, Chukcha, and Noca already gone.

"C.T., give me- where the hell is C.T.?!" Carolina looked around frantically.

"What do you mean, the leader's not here?" Carolina asked angrily, tossing wreckage aside.

"Exactly what I said." South answered. "His last check in is upstairs in the main deck but his call sign just appeared in their internal frequencies. He's broadcasting from out in Bone Valley."

"Meaning he's not here." Carolina persisted.

"Gee, you're starting to sound like a broken record." South replied, irritated.

"Okay. Change of plans everyone, we're heading into the junkyard." The four ran back in and prepared to leave. "This is beginning to feel more and more like a set up." Carolina murmured as the group of eight stared towards their destination.

Loud yelling broke their quiet moment as York and Timber came crashing into the shuttle bay. Carolina sighed quietly and Noca turned quickly and butted her helmet against them gently.

"You would not believe the time I had getting back." York said, pushing Noca away gently. "It's nuts out there."

"Let's go people." Carolina said and activated her jet pack, grabbing the short lead that was attached to her and Ursus. South made sure she had a good grip on the orangutan on her shoulder and followed her.

"What, no welcome back?" York asked, remaining on the floor.

"All right." North patted York's jet pack with one hand and grabbed Chukcha with the other. "Welcome back." He too left, carrying the large husky.

"Where are they off to in such a hurry?" York asked as he accepted the help standing Wash offered.

"Found the leader. He's hiding out in Bone Valley." Wash replied.

"All the way out there? After what happened to Georgia?" York was surprised.

"Would someone please tell us what happened to Georgia?!" Wash cried as Noca made the odd coughing noise of the jaguars.

"Dude, you do not want to know." York grabbed Timber again and started his jet pack, launching off into space.

"I really do though!" Wash yelled after as Noca sighed. Wash shook his head and tapped his chest plate. "Come on."

Noca jumped up and latched onto him with her claws as his arms wrapped around her and he started his pack, alibi cautiously, and they flew off as well.

The group flew through the oddly still and quiet Bone Valley.

"I don't get it. Everything's stopped." Carolina said, looking around.

"Maybe they're retreating." North offered.

"Nothing left out here but a bunch of junk." York added.

The animals remained quiet, longing to be able to check around and sniff out anything in the area. The team continued to fly through the quiet space.

Suddenly, 479er's voice cut in through their radios. "Guys, get out of there! They've outfitted that piece of junk with nukes!"

"Go, go, go!" Carolina yelled, urging the team to the drop ship.

"Get inside, now!" 479er yelled as she opened the doors.

Everyone flew in and landed, except Wash and Noca.

"Wash! What are you doing? Get in here, use your jet pack!" York yelled, moving to where he could see the two.

"I don't want to end up like Georgia!" Wash shouted back.

"Oh for God's sake." Carolina readied a harpoon and fired it, hitting and latching onto Wash in the crotch. She began to retract the line, pulling in the two yelling and snarling, flailing wildly. She yanked again and they tumbled in. 479er closed the doors quickly and they moved faster to catch up to the _Mother of Invention_. There wasn't time for them to talk then, because the nuke exploded in the space behind them, rocking the drop ship and sending its passengers flying.

"Everyone okay back there?" The pilot called back.

"Never better! Thanks for asking." York said a bit snarkily as he made sure Wash was strapped in and Noca tethered next to him. The two of them looked sick and Noca was shaking. North sat down next to Wash and Chukcha curled up on the other side of Noca.

"What the hell just happened, people?" The Director asked, sounding very angry. "Tell me you accomplished your mission."

"Negative, sir. Their leader escaped." Carolina replied as the team looked down to the floor.

"Well, looks like the enemy lives to fight another day." North said, trying to make the mood a bit lighter.

"Again." South brought it down immediately.

"That is most unfortunate. Are all agents accounted for?" The Director continued, calming down.

The others exchanged glances as Carolina replied. "All agents except C.T., sir. She's gone."

"Define 'gone', Agent." The Director sounded stiff.

In the mess hall, the animals and the agents were talking. Each group was briefing those that weren't there on what happened. Maine and Crota weren't there.

*C.T. and Teba just left?* Atucus asked, reptilian eyes staring at Chukcha.

*Yep. Didn't even say anything.* Chukcha replied. His tail was bandaged, having had one of the dead soldiers land on it awkwardly. All of them had been to the medical bay and they were told that they mainly had bruises, given some pain medication just in case, and told to take it easy for a bit.

*I guess I get C.T. The people would get upset at that, I think, but Teba? She could have told us.* Noca told the others moodily.

Chukcha nosed her. *No, she couldn't have. We would have told them. Besides, she might not even have known.*

*She knew.* Ursus growled. *She had to have. But how did we not see it?*

Noca raised her head suddenly. *Wash and I were on our way to get me fitted for armor when we saw C.T. talking to someone through the monitor. She was saying something about needing more time when she saw us. Then she said that she had to go really quickly and got defensive. She told us to mind our own business.* Noca curled her tail. *Wash didn't like that. But we thought that maybe someone was giving her a hard time, but now I wonder if she was talking to one of them. Teba wouldn't talk to me at all later.*

*She probably was.* Vanar hissed. *Right here.*

Noca set her head back down. *I should have thought of it sooner.* She sounded miserable.

Timber shook his head. *You couldn't have. Even if you had, you wouldn't have believed it. None of us would have.*

She sighed. *I guess you're right.*

*He is.* Atucus added.

The animals were quiet for a bit before Chukcha looked at Timber. *What's it like, having to share York with one of those little guys?*

*Delta? He's fine. Really smart too. It's not really sharing, so much as he's just there, I suppose.* Timber replied.

*But what is it like?* Chukcha persisted. *North is getting one soon.*

*Oh. It's a little weird at first. He can't be in my mind, so it's weird to feel someone else in York's mind.* Timber laid down.

*Should I try to be connected with North when he gets his, or should I leave them alone?* Chukcha asked.

*I was connected with him. I don't know that it matters. Just do what you want.* Timber responded.

*Hey, what do you guys think of Texas and Tasen?* Atucus asked.

Ursus growled and stood. *I think they need to back off.*

To the others surprise, Noca stood up as well. *At least he does.* Her lips drew back from her teeth in anger.

The others stared for a moment before Timber shook his head. "York thinks she's a bit odd too, and everything that's happening around her.* They looked at him. *Well, he says all these things are changing, especially with them around. And…* The big wolf faltered, for once not seeming to really be anxious about something that wasn't York. *And he's doubting the good that we do.*

The group stared at him in surprise, except Chukcha who had been there during the conversation. *So is North.*

*What do you mean?* Atucus asked what they were all wondering.

*He isn't sure that what we are doing is good, if we are the good guys.* Timber said as Chukcha nodded.

*Florida thinks we are.* Atucus said hesitantly.

Pongo spoke up, having been quiet for longer than normal. *South is getting tired and irritated over how everything is run and how it all happens.*

*Wyoming and Maine want something more.* Vanar spoke up. *I heard them. They think we should be getting better for what we do.*

*Carolina and I, at least, will do what is asked of us. The Director has given us everything and we won't let that go unthanked.* Ursus said firmly.

*Wash and I…* Noca faltered. *We don't really know. We aren't sure what we're doing, whether it's good or bad. I certainly don't know. But what I do know is that I will stand by whatever decision he makes.*

The others nodded their agreement quickly. *No matter what happens.* Atucus added.

The agents stood up and called to their companions, intent on getting rest.

Timber spoke up, stopping the group from disbanding. *I also don't really understand what we are fighting for, or why, or really even who. But what I do know is that I trust York and I trust you. I will not fight you if what you are doing is backing up what your agent thinks, because I don't believe any of us really knows what is going on.*

*I stand by with what Timber is saying.* Chukcha said.

*Yeah, me too.* Pongo added quickly.

*Of course.* Vanar hissed.

*I am with you.* Atucus said.

Ursus nodded his head. *I will not fight any of you unless I must.*

Noca looked at them. *We are a family, and we will stick together and protect each other, even if we are physically apart.*

Chukcha threw back his head and howled towards the ceiling, Timber joining in. Atucus and Vanar hissed loudly and Pongo screeched. Ursus stood on his back legs and roared. Noca took a look at them, then let out her loudest snarl to the point of almost being a roar. Those listening in could hear the individual noises, but more of the blend of them together, as though they were one animal.


	8. Chapter 8

A few days later, Wash and Noca, York and Timber, and North and Chukcha stood in a small group after training. York and Timber, were looking interestedly at North's lower body. Wash was staring dubiously at the same thing, and Noca was watching it curiously. Chukcha was sitting proudly at North's side, who was standing with his legs apart.

They stared in silence for a while, waiting for Wash's opinion before he finally spoke up. "I expected it to be…bigger."

"Why? You've seen mine. Small too."

"Yeah but he's green."

"How does that even make sense?"

"Hey, Wash?" North cut in. "Quit staring. You're making it nervous."

"Yeah, it's just…they're so small." Wash looked back at it.

"Small, yeah. But you wouldn't believe what it can do." York replied confidently.

"Besides, you better get used to it. You're going to have one of your own soon enough." North added.

South walked up, looked at it, and sighed. "Give me a break." She said, walking away again, Pongo screeching from her shoulder.

*Is he ever quiet?* Timber asked Noca, who only shrugged her shoulders.

"It's all right, Theta, come on out. People just want to say hello to you." North was addressing the small, pink and purple holograph behind his leg.

"I don't know. There's so many of them. And they're so… big." Theta replied cautiously.

"You see?" Wash asked, crouching down. "I'm not the only one who thinks size is important."

"I'm just going to let that one go." York said, smirking behind his visor.

Noca lay down and pulled herself forward on her paws, making herself as small as she could. She reached out her head and sniffed gently, being careful to not crowd the AI.

"It's okay, Theta. They're all friends of mine." North said gently. "For reasons beyond my comprehension."

"They're looking at me." In an instant, the AI was next to North's head. Noca sneezed in surprise and straightened up, ignoring the amusement of the two canines.

"That's 'cause they want to meet you. This is York and Wash, and Timber and Noca." North replied, introducing them.

"Hey there little…computer…dude." Wash greeted him awkwardly.

"Give it a rest, Wash. Theta, I have a friend just like you. His name is Delta." York stepped forward.

"Really?" Theta moved to hover in front of York.

"Yeah! You-you want to say hello to him?" York asked eagerly.

"Um, York?" North questioned.

"It's okay, man. Just for a second." Delta appeared in front of him.

"Hello, Theta. I am Delta. It is nice to meet you." Delta said.

"Hello." Theta replied.

"See, everybody here is nice." North said. "Isn't that right, Delta."

"Agent North, I do not feel qualified to make a judgment on humans or animals with whom I only have limited experience with. Also, 'nice' is a rather subjective term when-"

"Delta." York said, a warning note in his voice.

"Oh yes, everyone here is…nice." Chukcha wagged his tail and Noca purred, amused by the green AI. Timber just shook his head. "Within standard acceptable deviations."

"Delta!" York exclaimed, to the joy of the two animals again. Timber hooked one paw around Noca's leg, as she was closer, and pulled, causing her to fall clumsily to the ground. Chukcha barked once and let his tongue hang out of his mouth.

"And that's my sister over there, South. We're twins." North, as well as everyone else, minus Theta, ignored the animals.

"I have a sister." Theta offered.

"You do?" Wash asked.

"We have many siblings." Theta replied.

"What do you mean by sib-"

"Hello, everyone." The Director cut in, walking up with the Counselor. The group quickly stood in a line at attention, alternating agent and animal. Theta disappeared. "I hope you're ready to begin our test. Delta, I believe you know the protocol about communicating directly with other AI units."

"I apologize, sir. I will log off." Delta replied.

"Don't. I want you to help administer the test." The Director said. "Gentlemen, if you will take the floor."

Theta appeared again. "Okay, just like we practiced." North told him as the others walked to the viewing deck.

"Are they all going to watch?" The AI asked nervously.

"Of course. They want to see if you are as good as I said you are." North told him.

"Really? Well, I guess that's okay." Theta gave a tiny shrug.

"That's the spirit. Come on, let's do this." He and Chukcha walked towards the rink, Theta disappearing again.

"Delta, I expect you to follow protocol at all times." The Director told the green AI sternly.

"We were only attempting to make the unit more comfortable-"

"It was my fault, sir. I asked him to. New kid seems kinda shy." York interrupted.

"Agent North was paired with Theta for a reason." The Counselor said. "His nurturing nature is best suited for Theta's…moot personality."

"Yeah, he's used to looking out for people, isn't he?" York replied, glancing at South.

"Quite." The Counselor responded. "Delta, your skills are more…analytical in nature."

"If I may disagree, Theta has made double the number of declarative statements since my appearance. That indicates a hundred percent increase in confidence since we modified our interaction strategy. I think that speaks volumes to my caring algorithms."

"You make an excellent point, Delta. Let's begin the test."

York turned around to stare out the window into the rink as the Director said, "Begin the test."

North was looking around, gun ready in his hands. Chukcha was at his side, fur raised and teeth bared in a silent snarl. Theta appeared just as turrets rose up from the ground and aimed at them. They whirled and began firing. A dome shield appeared around North, Chukcha, and Theta as the agent and animal flinched away from the bullets.

"As you may recall, Agent North used his equipment in the field on a previous mission." The Counselor told those in the viewing deck.

"He was able to successfully maintain a deflective shield for 3.4 seconds in order to block an explosive projectile attack." Delta elaborated.

"And somehow managed not to kill himself in the process." The Director added, a trace of pride in his voice.

"The maneuver only had a 0.1 percent chance of success. Had he performed it 999 more times, I'm rather certain he would have been obliterated on each one." Delta continued.

"Hey." York told him. "I'd rather be lucky than good any day."

"You usually are." Wash said. Noca purred softly and Timber sneezed.

"Luck will only take one so far. I am in the business of getting results." The Director's words stopped the small antics of the animals. "Let's see what Theta can do. Delta, reduce shield strength by 50 percent."

"Modifying." Delta said.

Down in the rink, the shields wavered and North looked at Theta. "Power dropping. Theta, use remaining power to compensate for critical tiles."

"Okay." The shield changed into smaller, flat ones that blocked the turrets line of fire.

"Add variables." The Director said.

"Acknowledged." Delta nodded.

The turrets began to spin around them, and move into the air. The shields followed.

"Great job, Theta." North praised.

"Stop talking to me. You'll mess me up." The AI sounded irritated and nervous.

"Right, sorry." North replied.

"Reset." The Director said. The turrets moved back to the ground and the dome shield reappeared. "Agent North," He spoke over PA system. "Your objective now is to destroy all turrets. Begin." The turrets opened fire again.

"I thought the shield worked both ways. There's no way for him to attack." Wash said.

"Theta," North began. "Analyze turret rate of fire. Adjust shield to match."

"Okay." Theta replied. "Done."

"Firing. On my mark." North aimed.

"Ready!" Theta said enthusiastically.

"Mark!" North said and fired the gun. The shield flickered and the bullet hit the turret, blowing it up immediately. Chukcha howled loudly.

Soon enough, all the turrets were down. The shield lowered as the Counselor said, "All targets eliminated."

"Test complete. Excellent work." The Director said.

"Wow. Wow! That was incredible!" Wash exclaimed.

"Ha ha! Yeah, what did I tell ya?" York agreed.

"A-and we're sure they don't get any bigger?" Wash asked as South stalked away.

"Ha! Dude you are killing me with that." York told him as the two of them followed South, turning away from her to go meet up with North.

"Dude, that was amazing!" Wash told him.

"Tell that to Theta." North said modestly.

"Theta, that was great." York told him as Wash nodded his agreement.

Theta appeared again on his shoulder. "Th-thank you." He told the agents.

"You deserve it." North said to him.

The animals, meanwhile, had met up again.

*So, what do you think?* Timber asked the husky.

*Theta…Theta is great. Really good at his stuff.* Chukcha responded after a moment, fake cheer in his voice.

*But?* Noca asked him gently.

*But…it's dumb. Forget it.* Chukcha shook his head.

*No its not. It's bothering you. Tell us.* Noca persisted.

*North…it is stupid, but North didn't need me.* Chukcha looked at the ground and shuffled his paws, embarrassed.

Noca nuzzled him. *North will always need you. He just wanted to show off Theta.*

*I'm not so sure.* Chukcha said suddenly, glancing angrily at Theta.

Noca quickly got between him and the AI and pushed him back. *No, Chukcha. He's scared and needs someone. Don't make this harder on him.*

Chukcha dipped his head, ashamed. *You're right. I'm sorry.*

Noca sighed. *I don't need an apology.*

Timber reentered the conversation. *I kind of felt the same way. There was so much Delta could do that I couldn't, but really, it does get better. You'll find that AIs aren't so bad. It's not like Theta can do actually fighting.* The speech was relatively long for the wolf, but it comforted Chukcha.

*Thanks, both of you. I'm just being dumb. I'm sure it will be fine.* Chukcha wagged his tail a bit.

*Just, know that things will change a little between you two.* Timber warned.

Chukcha looked at him for a moment. *We'll work it through.* He replied, though he didn't sound so sure.

Noca shook herself off. *Come on, this is depressing.* With that, she pounced on Chukcha, playfully grabbing his neck ruff and shaking her head.

Chukcha shook wildly, then dropped to the ground and rolled, knocking her off.

Noca jumped to her feet and leapt on him again.

Before either of them could do anything more, Timber leapt in and knocked them all to the ground. The three made an odd wrestling group, trying to fight off two others or ganging up on one, only to attack the other, but they enjoyed themselves immensely.

The on-looking agents watched with amusement.

"Wha-what are they doing?" Theta asked. "Are they fighting?"

"They're just playing, don't worry." North replied. "They do it all the time."

"I can feel it." Theta said.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry." York told him. "Come on, let's get something to eat. Are you idiots coming?" He addressed the animals.

"Hey!" Wash exclaimed.

"Not you." York told him, shaking his head. "Though it does work…"

"Very funny." Wash told him, grabbing Noca and pulling her away. "You want to come eat?"

Chukcha leapt off of Timber and wagged his tail, barking and practically shouting, *Yes!*

North laughed. "Come on then." Noca shook herself lose and the animals fell in step with their agents.

"I'm going to rest now." Theta told North, who nodded. Theta disappeared quickly.

Noca reached over and nipped Chukcha's face, jumping behind Wash quickly.

"Stop that." Wash told her, not really mad.

The two animals managed to continue their antics all through the meal, though more subtly. Timber chose to stay out of it, remaining proud and slightly disdainful at York's side.

Eventually though, the group split up. Each person went to sleep thinking about the AIs, whether positively or negatively.


End file.
